Typically, the type of apparatus described herein are referred to as card readers and are used in applications such as telephone billing, banking, cinema and mass transportation applications. Recently, the information card chambers are used to allow writing of information to the information cards. The information cards may contain integrated circuits, microprocessors, or memory.
One application of these information card chambers is in the radiotelephone market. Information card chambers are used to read radiotelephone subscriber identification information from an information card typically in the European market. As radiotelephones become smaller and portable a need arises for a low profile integral information card chamber which can make electrical contact to read and write information to and from information cards.
Previously, radiotelephones have included integrated information card chambers using a wiping contact configuration for the low profile characteristics. In a wiping contact configuration, the information card is inserted directly on top of the electrical contacts of the information card chamber, causing the front of the information card to wipe the electrical contacts. Upon full insertion of the information card, the contacts of the information card rest on the contacts of the information card chamber. On contacts having a gold plating resulting from an electro-electroless plating process, after 10 to 12,000 cycles the gold plating of the wiping contact will be removed, making contact between the information card chamber and the information card unreliable. There is a need for an alternative low profile information card chamber which will be reliable beyond 15,000 cycles up to 100,000 cycles.